20th September 1940

by Louise

My dearest little darling,

Just a brief note to let you know that I arrived here safely just before 2 o’ clock this afternoon.

The journey to Rickmansworth was very slow, as just as we left Kilburn Station, the sirens howled, I must have missed the all clear. Oh dearest, I kept on thinking about you and wondered how you managed on your travel back to Hampstead. I was relieved to hear that it was a short alarm, but nevertheless I prayed for your safety.

On arrival at HQ, I was ordered to report to the town hall to draw my tropical kit, Darling you would laugh if you saw me in my tope and tropical suit. I can assure you that they aren’t at all becoming.

I have spent the rest of this glorious sunny afternoon painting my name on my sea bag but have been feeling frightfully depressed and sad and I felt like hiding myself in a corner to cry. Everything is so very quiet and peaceful here Dearest and it makes me wild to think that you have to put up with such an unhappy life in London.

There is as yet no sign of your telegram or even of your reply to my last long love letter to you Dearest so heaven only knows when you receive this note and I pray it will reach you soon.

There is as yet no indication as to when we’re moving, but I understand that we were due to depart tomorrow, but the recent happenings in town have moved the dates forward a few days. But still Dearest Heart, I am still hoping for the best and pray that we shall meet again before very long,

In the meantime, Honey, look after yourself and try and get used to the roaring guns and the other sounds of the like. I shall be writing a nice long letter to you tomorrow darling in which I shall express all my feelings and love for you, so in the meantime, I close darling Betty and send you all my love and pray for your everlasting safety and peace of mind. I shall always be your ever loving and devoted happy groom,

This is very romantic and emotionally tender. I get a real sense of the loss and disorientation he is feeling. Would be good to have a clearer context – where exactly is he writing from, about to go where? etc.
Is it possible to make some minor edits with all respect to the original letters.
Thank you for including me in the Lou loop.

Thank you Janis for your comments, very much appreciated. If you click the ‘About’ link you’ll read some context. I will add more as time goes by but to start with I want the reader to get the sense as Betty did in 1940. She had no idea where her new husband was.

Thank you very much. It is a very time consuming project but so rewarding as a social history, supporting a very personal record. The material was quite literally discovered ‘under the bed’ and ‘up in the attic’.